Nihilism and Existentialism in Waiting for Godot

Contextual History

Background Info

• Samuel Barclay Beckett is his full name
• Born April 13th 1906 in Dublin, Ireland
• Neither parents worked in the arts
• He had little "talent for happiness"
• Experienced severe depression throughout youth
• 1928 - Beckett goes to Paris and studies under James Joyce
• He would later travel Europe before finally settling in Paris in 1937

20th Century Theatre

Theater in the 20th Century

Existentialism emerged from the early 20th century as a philosophical and cultural movement. Here, many individuals rejected the systemic modes of thought associated with earlier philosophy, religion or romantic belief; people emphasized a reliance on authentic experience rather than external ideas.

The movement came to Paris in the 40s with the works of Sartre and Albert Camus. Sartre a leading philosopher in the existential/essentialist debate and Camus, the claim of absurdity.

Religious beliefs were tossed away and temporarily replaced by nationalism during the war. When the war ended, nothing was left to fill the void. This lead to the existential drama and theatre of the absurd movement in the late 40s early 50s.

A Final Summary:

• Existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility.
• It is an analysis of human existence and how individuals, through acts of will, are ultimately responsible for their own development.

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History of Existentialism:

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• Soren Kierkegaard (1800’s): The father of existentialism. Man is asked to understand that which cannot be understood (Vladimir and Estragon search for answers in an answerless world)
• Jean-Paul Sartre (1900’s): At each moment we must be anxious and freely choose and commit to authentic projects-We must find and develop our own meaning which must be authentic (Vladimir and Estragon base their meanings off of other people-ie. Godot)
• Simone de Beauvoir (1900’s): Feminist and existentialist. Was Sartre’s partner but never married-”One is not born but rather becomes, woman”-can be seen as the notion of creating one’s own essence

Beckett and

Existentialism

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• Growing up in Paris in the early 1900's would lead Beckett to encounter many existentialist ideologies sprouting at the time, including those of the philosophers previously mentioned
• It is important to note that within Sartre’s journal, Les Temps Modernes, Beckett had a portion of his short story “Suite” published
• However, Beauvoir didn’t allow for the remaining part to be published
• It is clear that the philosophical minds above had a large impact not only on Beckett and his writing

An Overview of the Text

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• The two characters repeat themselves endlessly and speak in circles
• The fact that they wait for Godot at the same spot multiple days in a row expecting an outcome that may never happen is absurd
• The cyclic notion of the story is very existentialist: It is Beckett commenting on human nature and how pointless one's life is when you examine it to the core
• The characters talk incessantly but without saying anything of real substance.
• By constantly talking about absurd things or in a confusing manner, they are freed from their thoughts and they do not have to think about their existence or make any real decisions in their lives.

A Quote

[Long silence.]

Vladimir: Say something!

Estragon: I'm trying.

[Long silence.]

Vladimir: [in anguish] Say anything at all!

Estragon: What do we do now?

Vladimir: Wait for Godot.

Estragon: Ah!

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• The characters seem to fear silence because it would force them to think about their life, their position, their actions, and their existence
• They try to avoid existential thinking but through this, Beckett is able to make a powerful statement about human existence and its futility.

Quote 2

• It can be shown that Vladimir and Estragon represent humanity
• Estragon represents the ideal existentialist portion of humanity who wants to stop waiting and construct the meaning of his life:

Vladimir: Let’s wait and see what he says.

Estragon: Who?

Vladimir: Godot.

Estragon: Good idea.

Vladimir: Let’s wait till we know exactly how we stand.

Estragon: On the other hand it might be better to strike the iron before it freezes

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Quote 3

Lucky’s speech: “...and considering what is more that as a result of the labors left unfinished crowned by the Acacacacademy of Anthropopopometry of Essy-in-Possy of Testew and Cunard”

Lucky stutters whilst saying Academy and Anthropometry, and states that the contents of the Academy are nothing more than unfinished labors of Testew and Cunard. He is referencing the fact that these academies are not as prestigious as they may seem which relates to the theme of existentialism because Beckett is referring to how people seem to “fulfill their essence” and find meaningfulness through these Academies even though they are nothing more than unfinished chores of incompetent individuals. This parallel between existentialism and nihilism can be seen as the concept of the absurdity of existential thought; people are trying to find their purposes and pursue the developments of their identities in meaning manner, in a world where doing so is truly impossible. How can one pursue a unique meaningful essence, in a world so devoid of meaning?

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Quote 4

Pozzo: Who are you?

Vladimir: Do you not recognize us?

Pozzo: I am blind

Estragon: Perhaps he can see into the future

Vladimir: Since when?

Pozzo: I used to have wonderful sight-but are you friends?

Estragon: (laughing) He wants to know if we are friends!

Vladimir: No he means friends of his

Estragon: Well?

Vladimir: We’ve proved we are, by helping him

Estragon: Exactly. Would we have helped him if we weren’t his friends?

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The visit by Pozzo and Lucky provides opportunity for additional absurdity. The visit of the travelers invokes an increased sense of existential doubt when Pozzo disputes the notion that he had been at this precise spot the day before, claiming to have lost his sight, with Vladimir and Estragon then engaging in the seminal discussion of whether they exist and how they know they do.

...Nihilism...

Summary of Nihilism

"Every belief, every considering something-true, is necessarily false because there is simply no true world.”

It is useless to search for truth and purpose because there is no inherent meaning in the universe or purpose in life.

Life is just another burden that one has to shoulder.

NO religion

NO morals

NO loyalties

NO purpose.

History of Nihilism

Buddha (563 B.C. - 483 B.C.) The first concept of nihilism. Observed and described what we now refer to as moral nihilists as those who believed that:

- Giving & doing good yielded no benefit - Good and bad actions produce no results

- After death, beings are not reborn into this world or any other world

- There is no one person who can confirm that there is anything after death

Felt that they owed other humans absolutely nothing and that there was no Heaven or God.

Shakespeare (1564-1616) Let out dissatisfaction for life through many of his works, such as Macbeth:

Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more; it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

History of Nihilism

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743–1818) Created the term nihilism.

Was loosely tied to the Russian Revolution in the 1860’s that rejected the church, authority and family and employed violence and terrorism to attain their goals.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Argued that a form of nihilism existed called ‘levelling’. One is as still as death, living only to hear their heartbeat and everything is just absorbed into the abyss that is oneself.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Most commonly associated with nihilism.

Insisted that “God is dead” as the age of scientific advancement in Western Culture brought about a world where humans could increasingly no longer follow morals ordained by God. Impending nihilism of humanity would cause a collapse in our reality and truth.

Examples in Waiting for Godot

Beckett’s writing was influenced by his emotional state, enduring the death of his father and living through the popularization of a nihilist philosophy during the Second World War.

Setting:

- Depressing

- Minimalist

Begins with struggle and the declaration that there’s “Nothing to be done”

--> Mood of the play and foreshadow the nihilist nature of the plot and frequent nihilist views of Vladimir and Estragon.

Vladimir: "We wait. We are bored. No, don’t protest, we are bored to death, there’s no denying it...In an instant we’ll all vanish and we’ll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness!"

Examples in Waiting for Godot

Both Vladimir & Estragon are strongly against hearing each other’s dreams, despite it passing time.

Reminds the other that he is not dreaming, and the suffering he feels is real and not something he can wake up from.

Estragon: I had a dream.

Vladimir: Don’t tell me!

Estragon: I was dreaming that-

Vladimir: (Violently) Don’t tell me! (Silence)

Examples in Waiting for Godot

In the last scenes of the play, Vladimir finally remembers what happened the day before and interrogates Pozzo to the point where he lets out his innermost thoughts and feelings:

Pozzo: “They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more.”

Death begins at birth & life is nothing more than a brief gleam of light that disappears into the night that is death.

Vladimir becomes self-aware of the cyclicality of his life. He echoes Pozzo statements:

Vladimir: “...the gravedigger puts on the forceps...But habit is a great deadener”.

Examples in Waiting for Godot

Vladimir is visibly trying to break away from cyclical life and nihilist views resulting from his suffering.

Violently demands the boy acknowledges his existence because he’s had enough of the suffering

Vladimir: “Tell him…(he hesitates) … tell him you saw me and that…(he hesitates) … that you saw me.”

“You’re sure you saw me, you won’t come and tell me to-morrow that you never saw me!”

And yet, despite this character development, breaking away from his old nihilist self, it seems to be all for nothing:

Vladimir: Well? Shall we go?

Estragon: Yes, let's go.

They do not move.

Sources

Sources

• https://www.britannica.com/art/theater-building/The-evolution-of-modern-theatrical-production
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Beckett
• https://www.biography.com/people/samuel-beckett-9204239
• https://www.marintheatre.org/productions/waiting-for-godot/wfg-existentialism
• https://owlcation.com/humanities/Exploring-the-Existential-Philosophy-of-Samuel-Becketts-Waiting-for-Godot
• http://www.philosophyparadise.com/essays/waitingforgodot.html
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Waiting-for-Godot
• https://www.iep.utm.edu/nihilism/